“One of the fundamental mistakes made by today’s leaders is that when they are supposed to lead people, they spend most of their time and energy on improving the organizational situation.” – K. Blanchard
Entering a new organization. During my recent coaching session, one of the managers asked me, “What steps should we take when entering a new organization, for example, as a team manager?”
Building a Strong Foundation
Thirteen years in large corporations have taught me one thing – the worst option you can choose is to “rush in and try to make quick changes” because the predecessor couldn’t handle it, for example.
So, here’s the list we came up with:
- Understanding the department’s problems and the problems of other departments – initial diagnosis. We suggest scheduling a “coffee” meeting with each employee/manager from other departments to understand their challenges and issues. Ask them, “What can I provide from my end to help you effectively achieve your business goals?”
- Verifying the personality preferences of employees/other department managers – a simple color model based on Jung’s psychological preferences can be helpful. The key is to know how to communicate with each individual, such as how to write emails, whether to be detailed or concise in three points, whether to provide only facts or allow for subjective considerations and visions. And perhaps, whether to bridge the distance or maintain formality.
- Verifying the organizational culture – it’s worth assessing the organizational culture we are dealing with. The Graves’ spiral model can be used for this purpose. It’s important to know what the organization values: tradition, order, competition, or perhaps innovation. Another crucial step is to thoroughly examine the organization’s values to refer to them during meetings.
- Preparing oneself in terms of expertise. There’s nothing worse than a manager disconnected from reality. Therefore, it’s essential to familiarize oneself with the expertise of the respective area of responsibility and its connections with other departments.
- Informing one’s employees/superiors/other department managers about expectations, work approach, needs, and ambitions. How to do it? ⚡ It’s valuable to invite the entire team for a meeting and start by sharing your vision and direction for the team, defining collaboration principles, and stating what is important and unacceptable in team work. ⚡ It’s important to align each employee’s business goals and their readiness level for specific tasks (situational leadership by Blanchard) to know which leadership style to employ. ⚡ It’s beneficial to meet with the managers of other departments for a second coffee and inform them about your needs and challenges.
My company is receiving more and more requests related to entering new teams – WHAT’S NEXT? Managers are scheduling individual sessions and seeking funds for team workshops. Check the first link in the comments to see what we can do together on this topic.
And what would you add to this list?
She is an expert in communication with managerial experience in large corporations such as ING Bank and PKO BP. She has years of experience in team management, training, and sales - as an experienced team manager, bank branch director, PCC-level ICF coach, and owner of Manufaktura Lidera. Together with the team, they help the management and managerial staff to build effective communication within the company and develop efficient teams. Everything they teach, they have practiced or are currently practicing.
